The Annual Republican Sinn Féin-organised Bobby Sands Commemoration will be held in Dublin on Saturday 5th May 2012 : those attending this Commemoration are requested to fall-in behind the Republican Colour Party at the Garden of Remembrance and march from there , at 1.45pm , to the GPO in O' Connell Street where , on the traffic isle facing same, a small stage , a speakers lectern , music system and amplification system will be set-up , under the direction of a young man from the Ballyfermot area of Dublin , who will Chair the proceedings.

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This commemoration went ahead today as planned , with only two minor incidents : one parking related , the other drink/joy related - but both were well handled !

As well as the twenty-two male hunger-strikers , it was highlighted today by one of the RSF speakers that there was also 340 Irish Republican women who went on hunger-strike in 1923 , and the speaker detailed the personel history of one of those women.

A Piper , an RSF Colour Party and uniformed representatives from Na Fianna Éireann and Cumann na mBan were on the parade that made its way from the Garden of Remembrance to the GPO - a brief report and a few pics can be seen at the 'Related Link' , below.

..there is no mention of the ongoing hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners against Israeli internment and conditions, given that they draw inspiration from Bobby Sands and his stand against similar treatment under occupation.

The plight of Palestinian political prisoners was referenced in a speech from the platform by one of the three RSF speakers and attention was also drawn to the work done by RSF representatives in the 'Network for Political Prisoners' group (an organisation which consists of , amongst others , the Turkish Halk Cephesi group and the Philippines-based NDF organisation) but I didn't mention those comments in my brief blog report because it was just that - a brief blog report about the event.

Incidentally , like some other Irish Republican organisations (but not all !) RSF has drawn attention to the Palestinian issue in recent statements , and not reserved such supportive comments for street events only - see the 'Related Link' below.
And I hope all Irish Republicans never forget that we should commemorate all twenty-two Irish hunger-strikers , and not just the ten men who died in 1981.

I don't agree : from the favourable reaction we got on Saturday - and the reaction we get every Easter etc for other similar commemorations - I would think that we Irish are respectful of those who sought to challenge injustice in this country.

Only some Irish Still Alive, like the Shinners who now seek to distance themselves from their former comrades who gave their lives so that they can sit at a table with their Unionist colleagues and act all respectable.
For them, the likes of Bobby Sands is nothing more than something to be forgotton and swept under the carpet. At least true Republicans never forget, never sell out and stay true to the cause by celebrating those who died bravely to liberate Ireland from under the British and Capitalist yoke of opression.